


Justice League: War

by Maeoreth



Series: Rose Zahrah - Earth 2 [1]
Category: Justice League - All Media Types, Justice League: War
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, DCAU, F/M, Heterosexuality, Justice League: War Spoilers, Series, dcu - Freeform, justice league - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 15:30:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6710791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maeoreth/pseuds/Maeoreth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Justice League: War... +1.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Hi, Dr. Stone. I figured I'd see if you had information regarding the device I left with you.” Barry says almost too quickly for even she to understand. The box in her arms is heavy, and she struggles momentarily before shifting, and the box becomes featherweight. There’s a mumbled reply that she can’t hear, “Yeah, I get that sometimes.” Another mumble. “I see,” Barry uses a hip to let the two of them inside. “All right, I'll check back with you then.” Something else is said, this time the tone more questioning, and she sets down the box on Barry’s desk, sending him a puzzled look. “I'll catch up with you later, Dr. Stone.” He ignores her look, then speaks up for everyone to hear as he puts away his cell, “Burritos are here!” People gripe and grumble as they come and get what they ordered. She quickly moves out of the way, then sits down in a vacant chair next to his desk with a soft sigh. It isn’t until everyone’s left that he stops to check the bag. “Hey, guys, someone took mine by mistake. Chimichanga? Guys?”

She rolls her eyes. “Glad I ordered mine separate.”

He shoots her a look. “I used my business card, so I technically couldn’t have included yours in the order, anyway. Was the box heavy?”

She glances at the box marked ‘EVIDENCE’ in yellow. “Nope.” Reaching into her Bohemian styled crossbody bag, she fetches out a book that looks too big to have been inside the bag. “Here’s the book you requested, by the way.”

He takes it, grinning. “Thanks. How long do I have it for?”

“A week, per usual.”

“Even though you’re a librarian?” She nods and he rolls his eyes, “Fine.”

“What did Dr. Silas say about that thing we brought him?” She asks, pulling her bag up into her lap.

Barry sits. “No news on that front yet. He said to check back in a few hours. And that I talk too fast.”

She makes a soft ‘hmm’ noise, then stands. “I see. I should head back to work; call me when you get some new information.”

Barry stands soon as she does, and nods, rubbing the back of his neck. “Ah, look, Rose…” He gets a blank stare in return. “... I’ll see you later.”

She raises an eyebrow, “Of course you will.” Turning, she leaves, just as Joe West walks over. She gives him a wave in passing, and she’s gone.


	2. Chapter 2

When the call finally does come, there is no call. There's just a blur of red that whizzes by her, sending papers flying, her hair tousling. She rolls her eyes in irritation.

“This is a _library--_ ”

“Notime!”

With a surge of electrical current running through her system, Rose feels herself disappear into her counterpart. She goes completely numb, losing control of her body. She blinks, and there is nothing but blurs surrounding her.

_That was hardly fair._

_Sorry._

Rose rolls her eyes at Barry’s weak apology. _Did you get a call from Dr. Stone?_

_I called him. All he said was he’s in trouble._

_So you jumped to the conclusion that we need Fuse? I thought we agreed-_

_I know what we agreed to, Rose, I was there._ She senses him bite back something he wants to spew at her. _Look. Fuse was the fastest way to get us both there. We’ll separate once we arrive._

_Provided Fuse feels that it’s necessary._

_Have a little faith! Besides, if we don’t give it opportunities to stretch it’s legs, it won’t ever give us back control. I’d rather not be trapped in here for the rest of my life. I have my own legs to stretch._

_Agreed. Just… Give me a little warning next time, please, Barry. You know I don’t appreciate--_

She doesn’t get a chance to finish her thought. Fuse is suddenly engaged in battle, utilizing Barry’s speed and her tactics, knocking out two aliens that are very much like the one it caught earlier that week. Once the threat is eliminated, to Rose’s mild surprise, Fuse splist, and the two are released to their individual forms. Her tattoos immediately move to cover her identity, and when she looks down, she sees herself already in her suit. _Damnit, Barry, ask me before you change my clothes faster than I can see!_

“We came as quick as we could,” Barry says. Another alien appears behind them, threatening violence, when it’s suddenly destroyed. Turning around, Rose realizes that there is a half-man, half-machine with a canon for an arm staring her down. Suddenly, the canon morphs back into an arm.

“Can't feel my hand.” He grasps his skull and collapses to his knees, “Can't feel anything. What's happened to me?” Rose can’t tell if he’s in immense pain or just terror. Dr. Stone kneels in front of him and starts scanning the man’s head.

“You mind is now a quantum computer, son.”

“There's buzzing in my ears. Make it stop, please.” The man, who Rose has deduced to be Dr. Stone’s son, begs.

“I can't,” Dr. Stone says hesitantly, “At least you're alive.”

“Ugh, you call this living? This half man, half machine. This is what it took for you to finally care about me?” Rose had hardly ever heard someone speak in a way that was both terrified and scathing. “You had to make me just another one of your experiments? Don't you hear the buzzing?” _Well, that got awkward fast._ The guy runs out, tears ready to burst.

“You know what, I think Rose and I are needed downtown... and you two clearly need to talk, so we'll just, uh…

“Yeah.” Rose finally sums up, hoping to shut Barry up. She gives him a look,and in a blur of motion, she loses herself to Fuse again.

_Did you know he had a son?_ Rose asks as soon as they’re together.

_No. I didn’t even know he has a wife!_

_Had._ Rose corrects. _I overheard some of the other scientists talking about it once. She’s dead._

A wave of sadness washes over her. _I never knew._

_Such is the way of things, Barry._

_Yeah, I know. Doesn’t mean I have to like it._

Fuse arrives downtown, pulling their attention to the present. In seconds, they’re behind someone Barry identifies as Hal Jordan, beating up another alien creature. They zip past twice, then stop to pummel it’s chest, before knocking it out. Fuse, again surprisingly, lets them split without hesitation.

“Looks like you could use a hand,” Barry says, teasing.

“Flash!” Hal pops Barry in the chest before trying to do an awkward ‘secret handshake’ that Barry obviously doesn’t know. “My boyy! Great to see you.” He glances between Barry and Rose. Was that the Fuse form you were telling me about?”

Barry nods. “Yeah, this is Rose, the half that allows for Fuse to be.” Rose bows to Hal, who just awkwardly tries to imitate the motion. “Rose, this is Hal. The pilot I was telling you about…?”

“Yes, I remember. The honor is mine, Lantern.”

Jordan smirks a little, nodding, before moving to the side to reveal a dark figure behind him. “Oh yeah, and that’s Batman.” He mumbles.

“Batman’s real?” Barry asks, Rose’s eyes widening.

“Yeah, he’s over there.” Hal answers, nodding a little in the direction of the black cape.

“Wait, _what_?” Barry zips over before Rose gets a chance to stop him. “It is a real honor to meet you, sir, Batman. Sir, Batman, sir.” He clears his throat awkwardly, shaking hands with Batman as Hal and Rose move to catch up.

“Don’t bother. The guy's a total tool.”  _Says the tool._

“I followed your efforts in Central City, Flash. You do tight, efficient work. We’ll likely be needing Fuse.”

Barry tries to answer, but Rose stops him. “Sensei?” She asks cautiously, peeling her tattoos back from around her face, revealing herself.

Batman’s eyes widen a little. “Zahrah?” He asks, bordering on cautious himself. Suddenly, there’s a noise, and he moves away, though Rose is quick to follow.

“Hey, Barry, you got a little somethin’ on your nose.”

“Get ready,” Batman says over his shoulder, and Rose draws two hilts at her sides. Activating them, she pushes her tattoos through, forming katana blades made of pure energy. She twirls them, even as her whole form glows faintly.

“ **_FOR DARKSEID!_ ** ” The beings cry out at them, preparing for battle.

There’s a warcry from above, and a woman dressed in United States colors with her hair tied back descends from the sky, attacking the creatures. Her initial landing creates an explosion that sends several flying. An elbow and punch to one sends it reeling back, and another moves to punch where she stands. Jumping back, she throws out a gold lasso she’s been holding, roping the one that tried to attack her, before launching it with barely more than a flick of her wrist into a nearby building.

“Holy-...” Barry mumbles next to Rose as Hal nears.

More troops charge, and the woman sends the lasso’d alien into the fray with a pull of her arm, destroying it and three of it’s friends. Drawing her sword, she begins cutting them down as though it were easy. Green blood soaks her arms and sword, electricity zipping through the jade drippings.

“Greetings, warriors!” The woman salutes them with her sword, and Rose instinctively bows. The woman seems to recognize the motion as a return salute, and puts away her sword.

“Dibs,” Rose hears Hal say to Barry as he floats away. The woman begins gathering up her lasso, ignoring Hal as he greets her. A man levitates to the ground, far bigger than any other man his size Rose has ever seen, and shoots Hal a warning look. She rolls her eyes. _Men._

“Oh, it’s good to be back in the heat of war.” The woman says as the aliens fly away.

“Yeah, you better run!” Jordan yells after them.

“No, they're assembling, waiting for whoever's behind this to launch the attack.” Batman says, stepping forward.

“Alright, now what?” The large man, who’s also dressed in United States colors, asks. Rose briefly wonders if he and the woman are dating, since they’re wearing matching uniforms.

“... I don’t know.”

That, however, doesn’t last long. Within a few seconds, there’s a noise as a man drops from the sky with some kind of jet pack strapped on. As he maneuvers awkwardly, Rose jumps in between Batman, Boy Blue, and the flying mess.

“Incoming!” Rose yells over her shoulder as her tattoos literally peel off her body, forming a solid shield of transparent ink between the group and the crash-landing.

“Mine.” She hears after a brief pause, and with a small gesture, a hole in the defensive shield is momentarily created. Girl Blue dives through the opening, moving to attack. The man’s arm repurposes into a cannon, and fires, sending Girl Blue back through the hole and into a car behind them. Rose’s eyes widen. _Dr. Stone’s son!_

“Damn it.” He mutters.

“You're done,” Boy Blue says with more ferocity than he seems genuinely capable of.

“No, I'm not with them!” The man cries out.

“Hold on,” Barry steps in front of Boy Blue, who Rose realizes has glowing red eyes. “Ink and I can vouch for that. He was at S.T.A.R. Labs.” Rose drops the barrier, the liquid slithering back to her.

There’s a peel of thunder above, and another man, this one dressed in red and white, descends from the sky. However, in contrast to Girl and Boy Blue, his entire being seems to crackle with lightning. Or at least what Rose assumes is lightning, given the lightning bolt on his chest. He looks incredibly intimidating until he pulls down his hood and opens his mouth.

“Hey there! What’s up?” _Wow, he sounds twelve._ He puts a hand over his chest, “Shazam.” _A twelve year old’s name._ “I’m with him,” he indicates to Stone.

“He’s _not_ with me.”

“And who the hell are _you_ supposed to be?” Jordan asks impatiently. “Mr. Roboto?”

“Who I am doesn't matter. What I know does.”

“Which is?” Batman asks unhelpfully.

“I've talked to their technology. I know their plan. They're terraforming the Earth. It's about to get ugly.”

“That fits.”

“How do you figure?” Jordan prods Batman, who points past him.

“Well, for one thing, the water's on fire.”


	3. Chapter 3

Black and red pillars emerge all over the city, the aliens flying around and almost arbitrarily picking people up at complete random, carrying them off to the pillars where they disappear.

“What are they doing with them?” Boy Blue asks to no one in particular.

“Can't be sure, but I know this. They're not killing anyone. - They're harvesting them.” Batman answers, and Rose wonders briefly how he knows that.

“This isn't an isolated incident either. It's happening across the world.” Barry adds, and Rose wonders how he knows that, too.

“We're too late. He's here.” Stone says, also to no one in particular. There’s a drumming sound, and a very large man rises out of the portal that leads to wherever he’s from. His grey skin is only visible around his face and hands, the rest of his body covered in some kind of body armor. Rose’s eyes skim him for weaknesses, and finding none, she puts a hand behind her back. Her tattoo’d fist begins morphing and changing.

“I'm guessing that's the bad guy.” Hal says, and Rose wishes people would start speaking directly to each other.

“Lucky guess.” Batman answers.

“Hmm, he doesn't look that tough.” Boy Blue seems to brag. At that moment, three fighters fly overhead, launching missiles at the being that’s floating ominously toward them. The missiles do absolutely nothing. Once the three planes have flown over, the being’s eyes begin glowing a reddish-orange color, and lasers shoot out, then redirect and go back behind him, blowing up all three jets.

“No.” Barry says, extending a hand toward the three blown up aircraft, and Rose feels a wave of sadness come over their psychic link.

“I am entropy. I am death. I am Darkseid.” The being, now Darkseid, says to their group once he’s close enough to be heard. He lands in front of them, and Hal pushes past everyone.

“Stand back and peep the light show. Green Lantern's got this.” He flies at Darkseid with a construct of his ring, and is tossed back like an irritating firebug. Two of the aliens pummel him mercilessly, though almost comically, once he’s hit the ground. Barry zooms by and gets them off his back.

“That all you got? Not all I got.” Hal tries again, and fails… again. “I'm not through with you.” He tries, and fails, again. The Girl Blue gives it a shot, but she, too, is swatted aside. Boy Blue catches her in midair, and sets her down gently before flying off to fight Darkseid.

Shazam lands next to Girl Blue. “Is that your boyfriend?” He asks not-too-casually.

“No.”

“Cool. Watch this.” Shazam replies, before flying off to also confront Darkseid now that Boy Blue has failed. Hey, Blackheart the Deatheater, or Whatever your "World of Warcraft" name is, suck on this.” He attempts to electrocute Darkseid, but it fails. Instead, he is blown back by Darkseid’s laser vision. Rose sidesteps to not get landed on, her hand still morphing furiously behind her back.

“Now what?” Stone asks, and Rose wants to smack him for setting up a witty comeback for their enemy.

“Now you die.” Darkseid’s hands and arms glow red, and he lifts them above his head.

“Wait, no!” Barry cries out, extending a hand. Darkseid’s arms lower to the ground just as Barry zips behind Boy Blue.

Rose uses her non-morphing hand, which is still holding a hilt, to throw up a bubble around her and Batman. It keeps them from being hit too hard by the shockwave Darkseid creates. However, a building crumbles under the weight of an unstoppable force, and Rose has to stop her shifting for now to use her other hand to hold up the bubble. The weight of the rock is intense. She feels Batman’s eyes on her, though he says nothing. Her mind organizes and reorganizes the ink surrounding them, until she’s able to form a solid structure.

“What are you doing?” He finally can’t help but ask.

“Created a structure that mimics steel. Normally I can only do this against my own skin, but these hilts the Flash designed allow me to do more.”

Just as she finishes explaining, Girl Blue lifts one of the rocks from over them, and tosses it aside. Rose creates a hole in the barrier where Girl Blue created a hole in the rock, and Batman climbs out. She moves to stand under the hole, and allows the rest of the structure to collapse, keeping up a much smaller barrier around herself as Batman and Girl Blue lift her by each arm out of the hole. She mumbles a thank you to both of them as Barry comes zipping around a corner.

“They flew off with him. I saw it. They took Superman.” Barry says, almost too fast to understand.

“I'll get him.” Hal grunts out, clutching his arm as he starts to float away.

"Lantern.” Batman calls out sternly, catching up and blocking his path. Rose tunes out the rest of their conversation. She turns to Barry, who looks distraught.

“I let them take him…” He mumbles to her softly, knowing she’ll be able to tell he’s upset without having to ask.

“You did no such thing.”

“This is my fault.”

“It is not.”

“How do you know? You were busy saving Batman and your lives.” He pauses, realizing what he just said. “Sorry I wasn’t there to help, by the way.”

“You had more important things to worry about, I’m sure. I know you, Barry. I know you wouldn’t leave me to die under a pile of rubble unless it was for a very good reason. I also know you would never let a teammate get captured if you could stop it. I’ve seen your life through your eyes. We’ve shared thoughts and memories. You are purely and wholly incapable of leaving someone behind. As such, I know that whatever the reason was that prevented you from being able to help Superman was a good one, and this was _not your fault_.”

Rose briefly hears Batman’s voice carry over, “We're fighting alongside an alien, an Amazon, a human lightning bolt, a cyborg, a tattoo artist, and a speedster. As far as I can tell, Hal, you and I are the only normal people here.”

Barry sighs heavily. “You’re right.”

“Of course I am.” She retorts, and he rolls his eyes, chuckling.

Shazam walks over, “So…” he starts in with, “What exactly are your powers?”

Rose grins, and as she does so, her tattoos stretch around her mouth, forming an even wider grin. Shazam takes a step back. “Tattoo and ink manipulation. However, without my hilts,” she holds them up for his inspection, and everyone else nears as well to listen, “I can only manipulate the ink in my own skin. With them,” she activates one, and a solid black katana blade extends, “With them, I can make structures and reorganize the atomic structure of my ink to mimic any material I can think of.”

Barry steps in, “She can also reorganize her own atomic structure to completely become a puddle of ink. Allows for discreet travel, and she can sit on other people’s skin if she needs to hide.”

Rose reaches out toward Girl Blue, who holds up a hand. When their fingers touch, Rose suddenly disappears, and black ink slithers onto Blue Girl’s skin, covering her arm completely in an intricate tattoo.

The woman makes a soft sound of surprise, “Is she-?”

Barry laughs, “She’s perfectly alright, Wonder Woman. Just hiding. C’mon, Ink.” The black liquid drips off, and within a few seconds, Rose stands before them again.

“That does explain the full body art,” Stone comments lightly, indicating to how every inch of Rose’s exposed skin has a tattoo of some kind.

“Yeah. We also learned a while ago that she and I can ‘fuse’. She believes it’s only possible because we’re ‘soulmates’.”

“Soulmates?” Shazam asks teasingly, “Seriously?”

“Yes.” Rose says in a no-nonsense tone. Shazam checks himself and takes a step back.

“I think it’s because she’s unwilling to try with anyone else, but I understand why she wouldn’t. It’s a very… intimate thing. We get to see all of each other’s past experiences, share all our memories and thoughts.”

“Not to mention it’s also incredibly _dangerous_ , Flash.” Rose comments, and Barry nods.

“Dangerous? How? Can you two get hurt?” Stone asks.

“Well, yeah, if one of us is unwilling to join, we repel backwards full force instead of merging. But that’s not really why it’s dangerous. Fuse is a combination not of who we are now, but who we were. All the things people leave behind as they grow up? Those dormant pieces of personality that are left behind as we mature? Fuse is the embodiment of that.”

“So with great power comes great immaturity,” Wonder Woman sums, and Rose nods.

“Yes, but it’s also a combination of who we were. Flash’s childhood rashness, and my childhood sadism.”

“ _Sadism_?” Shazam asks.

“I wasn’t a nice little girl.”

“When we become Fuse,” Barry continues, “We surrender ourselves to it. It has it’s own will, it’s own personality. There was… an incident. We almost never became our individual selves again because Fuse didn’t want to go dormant. It’d been awhile since we let it out, and it was…”

 _"Upset_.” Was the nice word Rose chose. “So with great power comes great immaturity and risk to our individual selves. Hence, we only fuse when the situation calls for it.”


	4. Chapter 4

“You guys okay?” Lantern asks as he floats over, his arm now bound in a green, glowing cast. Everyone gives their ok, and he moves straight to business, “Good. Listen up. Uh…” Rose tries not to laugh. “We need to, uh… We need to play offense instead of all coming up to bat.”

The crickets are audible. “Um, what?” Barry finally asks.

“I apologize, but I don't know your games.”

“I think what Lantern is saying is that it's time for some teamwork. So let's pull it together.” Stone says sternly, and Rose recognizes his familiarity with leadership.

Shazam ruins the moment. “Yeah, baby, clap it up.” More crickets.

“What's the plan, then?” Barry asks after a long pause.

“Well, he blast those beams out of his eyes, right?”

“It's settled, then. We blind him.” Wonder Woman says abruptly, drawing her sword and holding the tip up to Jordan’s face, who nearly has to step back.

“Good to see Team Enthusiasm is on board,” Rose comments under her breath, earning an elbow from Barry.

“That's as good a plan as any. Yeah, we follow and we stay out of sight.” Lantern replies, “I'll turn on the fireworks to get his attention. Princess, you and Fuse get in striking distance and stab that son of a bitch in the eyes.”

“Like poor damned Oedipus!”

“Yeah, what the hot Greek chick said.” Shazam chimes in.

“And the invasion of monsters raining from the sky,” Rose starts, bordering on sarcastic.

“What about them?” Barry finishes, his tone more heated than hers.

“I might be able to send them back where they came from.” Stone comments.

“Good enough for me. Here we go, team. We got this!” Lantern tries, but ultimate fails.

With a singular move, Rose and Barry touch hands, but unlike what happened with Wonder Woman, this time Rose’s tattoos completely cover Barry’s body. They surrender themselves and their will. With a loud warcry, Fuse surfaces. In an instant, it’s caught up with Green Lantern floating above, a mischievous smirk on it’s face.

"We got this"? That's your big battle cry?” It asks sarcastically.

“Don't worry about it, smart ass. Stick to the plan.”

_Please, Fuse._

_Yes, what she said._

“Okay, remember, I'll distract--” Green Lantern says above Fuse’s head, before he’s interrupted.

“Darkseid!” Shazam calls out, flying ahead.

“What the. . .?”

Shazam charges up a blast to fire at Darkseid, but he never gets a chance. Darkseid’s massive hand grips Shazam’s midsection, and with a strong wave of his arm, he sends a flying crack of electricity back that hits Stone and sends him reeling. Fuse eagerly decides to help, and runs up a side of a building, bounds in front of Darkseid and kicks him in the face. When it lands on another building, it keeps running, then comes back, kicking him again. Fuse does this several more times in the span of a few seconds. Darkseid waves his arm again, sending another wave of electricity back at the group, which now consists of Green Lantern and Wonder Woman, who both dodge.

_Fuse, stop!_

_Seriously, Fuse! Stick to the plan!_

_FUSE!_

“Get him out of there. His showboating is gonna ruin the entire plan. Oh, great, now I'm Batman.”

Wonder Woman arrives between Fuse’s kicks, hitting Darkseid a few times with her sword. Fed up with her persistence, Darkseid throws Shazam at her, and the two go flying back into a building. Fuse manages to use the distraction to kick Darkseid in the jaw, then finally acquiesces to the requests in it’s mind, backing off of Darkseid now that it’s alone, it’s teammates behind.

 _Damnit, Fuse._ A disgruntled wave of malcontent blasts both of them. _This is not how you get your way, Fuse. This is how you get locked up forever and Barry and I never let you out. Either you follow orders, or there is no second chance._ Irritation this time hits them.

_Knock it off, Fuse. You know she’s right; she’s the one with a lifetime of training. She’s the reason you’re so good in combat. She knows what she’s talking about, so if you want to live through this, or get another opportunity to get out and stretch your legs, I suggest you listen._

Hesitation, then acceptance gently washes over them this time.

 _Thank you._ Fuse spots the team, regrouped and in formation, with Wonder Woman leading the way, and immediately runs to join them.

“Attack!” Wonder Woman cries out, her sword drawn and ready.

Creatures circle around Darkseid, in a formation that Rose can only guess is funneling his power. His eyes glow, and two beams of orange-red shoot out at them. Wonder Woman takes both to the face, while the others flying above Fuse engage the aliens. Barry eggs Fuse on, and the black and red streak pushes itself harder. Two more beams come in Fuse’s direction, and it dodges to the side. Rose suggests confusing the monster, and Barry directs Fuse into running in a circle, sending water flying up in a tornado. Without losing speed or momentum, Rose directs Fuse to hit Darkseid a few times, constantly moving up then raining down from above with punches and kicks. Two eyebeams charge in Fuse’s direction, and it runs the other way. Shazam flies overhead, distracting Darkseid with a punch and causing the beams to fizzle out.

Once on land, Rose tells Barry and Fuse that she has an idea, but she won’t know for certain until it’ll be too late to change their minds. Barry says to go for it, and she directs Fuse to the hilts at it’s sides. Retrieving them, Fuse lets it’s energy flow into them, crackling black electrical current forms solid katanas. Then the trio watches as Wonder Woman stabs out one of Darkseid’s eyes, and they cheer for her, in spite of being too far away to be heard.

The team regroups near a vacated construction zone, and Fuse runs to catch up, katanas still drawn and powered. Stone shoots them a bewildered look, noticing how the katanas crackle loudly, but he says nothing. The aliens move aside, and Darkseid grips the left side of his face. When he finally moves his hand, Rose feels Barry’s cringe at the sight of blood dripping from Darkseid’s eye.

He growls lowly, then grins at Wonder Woman, charging her. They go through a building before Fuse kicks into gear and runs after them. By the time it catches up, Darkseid is pummeling Wonder Woman’s face. Fuse hits him twice with the charged katanas, zipping past him twice. Though no cut is made, the shock from the current is visible. On the third attempt, Darkseid feints, then punches Fuse, sending it back in a black blur. Darkseid sends an energy beam at them from his remaining eye. Just before Rose can activate her plan, Lantern jumps in the way, deflecting and then sending the energy back into Darkseid.

Shazam and Stone arrive, both pummeling the alien with shots of white noise and lightning, before Darkseid charges Stone and punches him into the ground. After punching Stone a few more times for good measure, he throws him through a stone pillar, and then the wall behind that. Shazam hits Darkseid in the small of his back with a powerful charge, electrocuting the giant, before being caught and thrown into a wall. The structural integrity of the building is compromised, and stone rains down from above. Wonder Woman kicks off a fallen rock and begins beating into Darkseid, who is unfortunate enough to have to take it.

Once in the air, she hits him again, Shazam zaps him, Stone hits him with his white noise canon and some fireworks, then Green Lantern blasts him. The four then push him through a building and back down toward the ground. Wonder Woman captures him in her lasso, circling him several times to make sure he can’t get free, while Shazam charges up a powerful ball of energy to send flying at the alien. All this while dodging Darkseid’s minions. That is, until Shazam releases another blast of energy, blowing all of them away.

Fuse comes running around a corner, or around a building, rather, then jumps on the back of one of the flying minions. Once near enough, Wonder Woman calls out to them.

“Now, Fuse, take out the other eye!”

Darkseid takes the opportunity to release himself, breaking the lasso’s hold and sending the others who’ve been attacking reeling back. Fuse runs up the side of the building, then jumps, headed for the grey being. He turns to face Fuse, and Rose sends a command through the tattoos binding them together, changing the molecules. A blast of Darkseid’s eye laser hits Fuse straight in the chest, but it doesn’t feel the hit at all. Instead, Darkseid takes a charged black katana blade to the eye, and he’s blinded. Fuse falls, taking the blade with it, and Shazam hits Darkseid in the eye for good measure. Green Lantern is kind enough to catch Fuse on a comfortable bed. Sitting up, it looks up at Darkseid.

“Did that work?” It asks cautiously.

“Yeah, I think that worked.” Shazam answers cockily once Darkseid’s fallen to the ground. Fuse sends him a grin.

 _Look at you, making friends!_ _Also, Rose, how did you DO that?_

_I rearranged the structure of Fuse’s tattoos to match the material making up Darkseid’s own armor. It was a shot in the dark, but I figured if you claim to be a conqueror of worlds, you probably think you’re the biggest, toughest guy in the galaxy. So why not make armor that can handle the hardest hits? More specifically, YOUR hits?_

_That’s… genius._

The fight continues. Darkseid takes on both Wonder Woman and Stone, while Shazam comes up from behind and Green Lantern fights the troopers.

“Both eyeballs blown out and he's still standing.” Green Lantern blasts away more aliens, backed up against Stone. “What else can we do?”

“Try and send him home.”

“HOW?” Wonder Woman asks, flinging away a carcass she’s been holding above her head.

“Darkseid is transferring data to those metal cubes. They call them Mother Boxes.They're creating portals. Boom tubes. I just have to speak their language.”

“I didn't understand a single word you just said.”

Stone’s canon retracts to retrieve a cube, which he links up to. “Gotta get some altitude,” he says after a pause, then he lifts into the air. After what feels like an eternity, portals start opening up everywhere, sucking the aliens in.

This does not stop Darkseid, using only his fists to propel him forward, from chasing after Fuse, who runs as hard as it can. Shazam appears as they round a corner, and blasts Darkseid back. Then a portal opens up behind the grey alien, trying to suck him in as well.

“Get him in there!” Wonder Woman orders. Shazam charges and hits Darkseid in the back of the neck with another strong blast. He’s caught and thrown into the ground, then ends up with Darkseid’s very large knee in his chest.

“I'll crush you like a nut!” Darkseid says loudly, and when he raises his fist to squash Shazam, Wonder Woman’s lasso captures his wrist. Both she and Fuse pull, with Barry and Rose inside lending Fuse all their strength. “How dare you? I am Darkseid!”

Then there’s a blur of movement from inside the portal, which shoves Darkseid back with his shoulder. “I. Don't. Care.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Kick his ass!” Green Lantern yells unhelpfully.

Superman manages to get a good knee into Darkseid’s fat chin, before grabbing his face and drilling into his eye sockets with Superman’s own laser vision. Then he throws him over his shoulder, tossing Darkseid back toward the breach from whence he came. Fuse zips around Darkseid, getting him turned around, before Shazam starts blasting the giant again. Green Lantern starts shooting him with energy as well, and Fuse punches him a few dozen times in the small of his back for a few seconds before getting out of the way.

Wonder Woman and Superman fly in together, punching Darkseid’s throat and nearly forcing him completely into the portal. The two continue punching his chest in sync, each hit pushing him back an inch at a time. They keep hitting and hitting his midsection, Shazam having joined them to strike the giant with more lightning.

Darkseid suddenly shoves all three back, his feet landing on Earth once more. He grabs his neck like he’s in pain, then an explosion goes off under his hands, sending him reeling as Batman lands on the ground. He charges the alien, this time leaping over him and placing the yellow utility belt across Darkseid’s chest, activating it as Batman lands on Darkseid’s shoulders. Two small jets start pushing the foreigner into the portal, and Dark Knight jumps away to avoid getting sucked inside as well.

Darkseid starts to get up once the jets run out of juice, and everyone comes flying back in to keep trying to force him through the tube. He manages to punch all of them back. Superman’s the only one left standing when Darkseid realizes what’s about to happen. He grabs the smaller man, clutching him to his chest.

“Kryptonian, you are coming with me.”

“Like hell I am!” A headbutt to the chest sets Darkseid off balance, nearly pushing him through the portal, and it’s all the alien can do to not fall through.

With an order from Barry, Fuse starts swirling it’s arms to create mini tornados headed right at Darkseid. Wonder Woman throws her sword, Batman throws a Batarang, Green Lantern hits him with green energy, and Superman’s laser vision blasts him at the same time as everything else lands. When the smoke clears, Darkseid’s head, shoulders, and hands are all that are visible from this side of the tube, Wonder Woman’s sword sticking out of his shoulder. The portal begins to close, and Darkseid attempts to use sheer strength to force it open, but a well-aimed punch from Superman allows it to close.

Without Darkseid’s will to keep everything powered up, the weird terraforming experiments and large pillars crumble and collapse. Barry asks Fuse to run around for a few minutes, double check that all the aliens are gone. Finding a complete absence of extra terrestrial activity (barring Superman), Fuse reappears next to the team. It grins briefly, then a small burst of black energy radiates out. When the dust settles, Barry and Rose are left standing there. A crowd, however, forms in front of them.

“We should leave before they blame us again or-”Barry’s cut off by the sound of the crowd cheering and applauding. They all look at each other in varying degrees of surprise to gratitude that the people aren’t upset.

“What's your hurry, Flash?” Green Lantern teases next to Rose, who elbows him lightly in the side. Barry just smiles.

“Today marks a momentous day in human history....”

Rose finds herself standing in a perfect line alongside everyone who was there that day. They’re surrounded mostly by dignitaries and press who all try to snap photos of the group. Rose has her hood drawn up to hide more of her face - the less publicity she gets, the safer everyone is. On her left is Barry, who’s been nagging her since they arrived that morning to wear the hood down, though he knows why she can’t. On her right is Lantern, who seems to avoiding eye contact.

“In our darkest hour, these ‘superheroes’ donned their colorful costumes…” The President continues, and Rose quietly rolls her eyes.

“Costume? This is my uniform.”

“Quiet.”

“Oh, now you wanna bark orders, after I did the heavy lifting and pulled everyone together?”

“You're referring to when you botched my very simple directives and Wonder Woman led the charge?”

“Cyborg showed you a video?”

“He e-mailed it to me.”

“I really hate you, Bats.”

Rose shoots Barry a look, who grins back. She gets the feeling this is far from the first fight between Hal and Batman they’ll have to endure. She distantly hears Wonder Woman and Superman whispering to each other, and only catches the end of their conversation, as Wonder Woman lifted her voice a little bit by mistake.

“Yes, it was good to walk among a pantheon again.” WW comments.

“How do you mean?” Supes asks her.

“Hades, Apollo, Hermes, Hephaestus, Artemis, Zeus...each a god in their own right.” Rose hopes that she’s Artemis, if nothing else because it’s the only female Girl Blue listed.

“And me?”

“I have never met anyone like you, Superman. God or mortal.”

“Is it by chance, by fate, or are there bigger forces at work? Is our modern technological age...?” The President continues, though no one’s really listening anymore. “--the way of all people working for a free and peaceful planet. As we have seen… These super-friends use their superpowers to protect us.”

“And we're not friends either.” GL commentates, upset.

“We let them think we're both.” Batman answers, and Rose hums an affirmative. 

“Why?” GL continues, ignoring her.

“It'll keep Gotham P.D. off my back, the Air Force off yours.”

“I don't know, a team? I've got a lot of  _ responsibilities _ .” Rose is now almost certain that he was cryogenically frozen as a twelve year old, somehow allowed to physically age, then woke back up. With the weird crap she’s seen lately, it wouldn’t surprise her.

“As do I.” Wonder Woman adds.

“Well, I have a whole universe to protect, people, so there you go.”

“Come on, we can do it together.” Barry answers him, and Rose inclines her head slightly.

“Yeah? Can you fly into space?” GL asks sarcastically.

“I can!” Superman volunteers.

“Not my point. Look, we are not friends. We're not a team.”

“I don't agree, Hal.” Flash retorts, smiling.

“I enjoyed being a part of something bigger than just the Flash and myself,” Rose adds softly, and everyone stops to listen, as it’s the first thing she’s said this whole conversation.

“Yeah, you would.” Is all Jordan can answer with. “Listen, this was just a one-time deal, okay?”

“And what if something should happen again?” Batman murmurs back.

“Now that has, it very likely will,” Rose continues.

“Please, what could possibly happen?” GL asks sarcastically, and she internally cringes.  _ Well, now that you’ve jinxed it. _

“That said, I am very pleased to introduce to you…” The President quickly whips around, putting his hand on the mic, “Gee, I didn't even ask. Do you guys have a name?”

“Yes, we do!” Shazam answers enthusiastically.

“We do?” The recently-donned Cyborg asks.

“That's right. You can call us the Super Seven!”

_ Everyone _ groans.

“Please don't call us that.” Superman immediately asks, and Wonder Woman calls upon Hera’s help.

“The  _ Super Seven _ ? Did you completely forget that Ink was even there because she was trapped inside the Flash’s body the entire time?” Lantern asks, sticking up for Rose, much to her surprise.

“What, you don't like it?” Shazam replies innocently.

“The Justice League,” Rose supplies quietly.


End file.
